Typewriting machine



April 1932- A. G. F. KUROWSKI 1,855,858

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Sept. 22, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l April'26, 1932. 'A. 5. F. KUROWSKI TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Sept. 22, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnve for: 157% Affor Patented Apr. 26, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALFRED G. F. KUBJOWSKI, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO UNDERWOOD ELLIOTT FISHER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE TYPEWRITIN'G MACHINE Application filed September 22, 1928. Serial No. 307,585.

The present invention relates generally to souncl-deadening appliances used with typewriting machines, and more particularly to the class in which a machine of the size of a portable typewriter is mounted within a small casing for operation from outside the casing. Mechanism is operable from outside for line-spacing the platen and controlling the lateral movement of the carriage within the sound deadening casing.

In casings provided with such mechanisms, the carriage is usually returned after each line of typing by operation of an outside handle, which, in the form of a lever, passes through an opening into the casing, and ro-- tates a drum at the right of the typewriter.

A cord or flexible member extends from the drum to the line-space lever on the carriage so that operation of the handle will line space the platen and .return the carriage to the right.

Heretofore the flexible member passed between the carriage and the rearmost rearwardly-striking type-bars. Because of the limited space, the flexible member had to be made unduly small and stiff, lacking a sufficient degree of flexibility to stand long, hard service.

It is a feature of the present invention to arrange a drum and flexible band at the rear of the typewriter and provide instrumentalities connected to the band and supported on the rear side of the carriage for operating the line-space lever and returning the carriage. The arrangement permits the band to be made of a satisfactory flexible material and to be large and strong enough without interfering with any part of the machine.

The flexible band extends leftwardly from the drum to instrumentalities mounted on the rear of the carriage for operating a rear extension of the line-space lever.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of efficient and easilypperable exterior means for releasing the carriage from the escapement-mechanism, which means include a downwardly-operable releasing lever mounted at the front of the easing, and instrumentalities operatively connecting the lever with a member arranged for swinging the rack of the escapement mechanism rearwardly out of engagement with its pinion.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary crosssectional View, front to rear, through a sound-deadening casing which encloses a converted typewriting machine of the Underwood portable type arranged for co-operation with carriage and platen controlling mechanism that is mounted on the casing. Figure 2 is a fragmentary rear perspective view of instrumentalities of the present invention for line-spacing the platen and returning the carriage to the right.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of the line-space lever of the present invention by instrumentalities at the rear of the carriage.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary front elevational view'of the structure shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a skeleton view of a carriagerelease lever of the present invention.-

A machine corresponding mainly with an Underwood four-bank portable typewriting machine is generally designated as 10, in which the operation of keys 11 will cause types 12 to strike against a platen 13, mounted on a shaft 14 which is journaled in ends 15 of a platen-carriage 16. The carriage moves on a track, one rail of which is formed in the top-edge portion of a backplate 17 which is fastened between the sides of a usual shift-frame, not shown.

A lettenspacing mechanism for the platen 13 may include an escapement-wheel 18 fast to a concentric pinion 19 which meshes with a rack 20 floatingly mounted on a lever 21 at each end. For releasing the platen 13 from the escapement-mechanism, a platenrelease lever 22 is mounted on the right end 15 of the platen-carriage 16, and is operatively connected with the adjacent lever 21. The parts described above may be of the same construction as in the Underwood standard portable typewriting machine.

To reduce the noise arising from the op- 'eration of the machine 10, the latter is partly encased in a sound-deadening casing, gen erally designated as 30, which may have a lowerbody part 31 and a cover 32 displaceably fastened thereto at the back by hinges 33. A nropening 34 in the cover is sealed by a glass pane 35 and permits the operator to view the typing as it is performed. usual opening is provided in the front wall in thebody-part 31 to permit a keyboardexten'sion 37 of the machine 10 to project forward from the casing. The walls of the casing may have an interior lining 38 of felt, and a layer 39 of felt may be provided on the floor of the casing to help muliie the noise of the machine. Except as otherwise noted hereinafter, the construction of the casing 30 may be substantially the same as described in Patent 1,659,553, to Edward G. Rowley, dated February 14, 1928.

According to the present invention, mechs in anism' for returning the carriage 16 from outside the casing without raising the cover 32 includes a handle 40 on the forward end of a lever 41 which extends forwardly through a vertical slot 42 in the front wall of the body part 31 and is pivoted about a shaft-43 which is journaled in a standard 44 of a bracket 45 fastened to the floor of the casingnat the right side of the machine 10. A gear-sector 46 is integrally joined to the lever 41 and extends rearwardly to engage with a pinion 47 fast on the forward endofa rearwardly extending shaft 48 which is ournaled in standards 50, 51 of the bracket 45. "The rearmost standard 51 is positioned adjacent the rear of the machine 10, and the shaft 48 extends past the standard 51 and has fastened on its rear end a drum 52.

'To'hold the gear-sector 46 securely in engagement with the pinion 47, a roller 53 is mounted for engaging against the side of the sector on a pin 54 fast in a bracket 55 secured on the standard 50 by a screw 56.

A flat band or tape 57 may be made of cotton or other suitable material and is "wound on the drum 52 and has one end fastened thereto, the other end of the band exleasa-bly fastening the band to the lever, there is provided in the band an aperture 61 in the form of a button-hole slot for engaging around a button-like head of a rivet or screw 62 fast in a forwardly-bent lug 63 on the lower end of the lever 60. To help wind the band-accurately on the drum 52, an idler pulley 64, having spool-head flanges 65, may

be plvoted on an ear-like extension 66 of an 'endplate of the drum (Figure 2).

The lever is pivoted about a screw 67 in a bracket 68 which may be fastened by screws70 to a usual margin-stop rack-bar 71.

The upper end of the lever 60 engages against a conical roller 72 mounted in a U-shaped bracket 73 which may be integrally joined to the rear end of a rearwardly-extending member 74 which may be fastened to a usual line-space lever 75 by a usual pivot-screw 7 6 and a screw or rivet 77 positioned forwardly from the pivot-screw.

It will be noted that the lever 60 moves in a plane parallel to the axis of the pivot of the line-space'lever 7 5, and engages the roller 72 in substantially the same plane'as the portion of the lever 75 around the pivot-screw 76, thereby moving the latter without causing any binding. The conical roller 72 is effective to transmit the force of the lever 60 efiiciently from the line-space lever 7.5, the lever 60 acting against the roller 72 substantia'lly at right angles, irrespective of its position. It can be seen that the extensionmember 74 may be made integral .withthe line-space lever 75 if .desired.

The line-space lever 75, after-being operated, may be returned to normal position by a usual spring 78. Usual devices, including a slide-bar 79 arranged for swinging up against the adjacent end 15 ofthe. platencarriage, arrest the line-space lever 75 after the latter is operated by the lever60. The extension-member 74 stops the swing'of the lever 60, and thereafter the rightward pull of the tape 57 becomes effective .to begin =returning the carriage.

A weak torsion spring 80 may be coiled about the shaft .43 and have one end fastened to the standard 44, and the other end hooked under a radial spoke-member 81 of the-gearsector 46. The spring 80 functions to partly counter-balance the weight'of the handle40 and the lever 41 so that as the carriage 16 travels to the left under pull of a usual spring-motor 82, little or no extra'work: will be put on the last-mentioned spring because of the lever 41 being moved.

hen a line has been typed the handle 40 will be in raised position. t can be readily seen from an inspection of Figures 1, 2 and 4 that an operator, by pressing down on the handle 40, will cause the upper end of the lever 60 to swing-to the left and operatethe line-space lever 75 which will act through usual instrumentalities including a ratchetwheel 83 on the platen-shaft 14 to line-space the platen. Further depression of the lever 41 will return the carriage 16 to the right until it is arrested by a usual margin-stop, not shown.

To line-space the platen, at any time, without moving the earriageor without opening the cover 32, a usual space-bar 84 will be held in its depressed position which will lock the carriage against lateral movement ina manner described in Patent 1,680,230 to E. G. Rowley, dated August 7, 1928. Thereafter, depression of the handle 40 a short distance riage 16 from the escapement-mechanism to permit the platen 13 to be moved quickly to the left. According to the present invention means operable from outside the casing 30, for releasing the carriage, may include a release lever 85 having a hub 86 which may be fastened by a screw 87 on the forward end of a shaft 88 which projects through the front wall of the body part 31 at the left of the keyboard-extension 37. The shaft 88 extends rearwardly into the casing and has its rear end-portion journaled in a bracket 89 which may be fastened by screws 90 to the floor of the casing. To the rear end of the shaft 88 is fastened a downwardly-extending arm 91. The left end of a link 92 is fastened loosely to the lower end of the arm 91 and extends rightwardly to a loose connection with a forwardly-extending arm 93 of a bellcrank 94 which is pivoted about a screw 95 in the forward end of a bracket 96 fastened to the back plate 17.

The bell-crank 9 1 has a second arm 97 which is inclined upwardly, an end-portion 98 of the arm 97 being disposed adjacent the rack 20 in a plane perpendicular to the front side of the rack. A roller 99 is mounted on the end-portion 98 for engaging against the rack 20. It can be seen by inspection of Figures 4 and 5 that depression of a fingerpiece 100 on the release lever 85 will causethe roller 99 to press rearwardly against the rack and swing it to a position wherein it clears the pinion 19, as indicated in dot-anddash outline in Figure 1. To make the rack stiff so that it will not be unduly strained by pressure of the roller 72, the rack may be made from a small L-shaped bar, as indicated in Figure 1.

An enlarged portion of the lever 85 on the opposite side of the shaft 88 from the integral finger-piece 100has a section cut out so as to leave two teeth 101 which are dis posed on opposite sides of a pin 102 fast in the front wall of the body part 31. The teeth and pin function to limit the throw of the lever 85. A torsion spring 103, which is coiled about the shaft 88, has one end fasmachine having a platen-carriage, a comtened to a collar 104 fast on the shaft, and has its opposite end fastened to the bracket 89 for returning the release lever 85 to normal position after operation.

For positioning the carriage relative to the printing point, a carriage-scale 105 may be mounted on the front of the body part 81 and is circumferentially disposed relative to the axis of the lever 41. A pointer 106, fastened on the lever 41, is arranged to cooperate with graduations 107 on the scale 105 in a way described in Patent 1,679,878 to E. G. Rowley, dated August 7, 1928.

It will be noted that the arrangementdescribed hereinbefore, wherein the devices which operatively connect the drum to the carriage-returning and line-spacing mechanism are placed at the rear of the platen, permits such connecting devicesto be designed for any severe service that may be required of a typewriting machine. It will also be noted that the mounting of the outside release lever 85 on the firmly-supported shaft 88, and the operative connection between the latter and the rack 20 are such that they facilitate easy operation and yet are capable of standing severe service. be further noted that operation of the lever 85, by downward movement, will have no tendency to move the casing 30 rearwardly, such as would occur to some extent should the escapement-mechanism be released by a rearward push at the front of the casing.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination with a typewriting machine having a platen-carriage, line-spacing and carriage-return mechanism including a forwardly-projecting line-space lever,

and a sound-deadening casing enclosing the machine, said lever accessible only when the casing is open, of a drum positioned adjacent the rear of said machine at the right side thereof, means for rotating said drum operable at any time from outside said casing, a strap having one end connected to said drum to be wound thereon, and an operative connection between the other end of said strap and said line-space lever, whereby operation of said drum-rotating means will operate the line-spacing mechanism and return said carriage, said connection including a rear extension on said line-space lever, a lever pivoted 'on'the carriage below said extension and having its lower end fastened to the strap and its upper end engaging said rear extension, and means on said carriage for arresting the movement of said lastnamed lever about its pivot after said line-space lever has been operated by initial movement of said strap.

2. The combination with a typewriting bined line-space and carriage-return mechanism including a line-space lever, and a sound-deadening casing enclosing vsaid machine, said casing having a cover, of a drum adjacent the rear of said machine at the right side thereof, means for rotating said drum from outside said casing, a strap having one end connected to said drum to be wound thereon, and an operative connection between'the other end of said strap and said combined mechanism, whereby operation of said drum-rotating means will effect the linespacing and return said carriage, said con- It will election including a rear ".GXCBHSiOIlgOD said -lever, a; leveix-pivoted onsaidccarriage below said; .extensioneandi having one: end. fastened to, said strap ;.and its ,-other end disposedadjacent :said -rear extension, and a conical roller mounted .onthe linespace-lever-extension tobe engaged by "said ilastenamed lever, whereby therangle of: contact between said-roller-and said last-namedylevcr is -;alwayswapproximatelya right angle.

3. :In a typewriting machine encased in a sound-deadening casing and having-a laterally-movable platen-carriage, in combination, a line-space, lever rpivoted :on said 7 carriager sand havingsaiearextension, an up- .wandly extendingf lever pivoted on the, rear ofusaid carriage belowsaid lineespace lever for :angularmovement in a; plane transverse to said extension, the upper end :ofsaid ,up- -wardly-extendingnlever engaging said rear 7 extension. for operatingsaid line-space lever when the lower end of thesame lever-is anoved about its; pivot in the directionof the rightward travel of said carriage, means for arresting-the movement ,ofi'sa-id upwardlyextending .i-leverzabout its pivot after said line-space lever has been operated, and ;;a roller having a flaring diameter-and mounted .on said rear extension at the; right sidethere- ,of for; receiving the thrust of said upwardlyextending; lever said roller being arranged in'respect to the path of 'said upwardly-extending lever so that the .latter engages against said rollerapproximately at right angles.

4. vIn a typewriting 'machine having a platen-carriage, a lever-system including a line-space lever pivoted intermediate its ends to swing in asubstantially' horizontal, plane, an upwardly-extending lever pivoted on-said carriage intermediate its ends, the upper end ofsaid upwardly-extending lever positioned adj acent the rear: end of said line-space lever for cooperation: therewith, and a friction-reducing roller-device on said: line space lever for. engagingsaid upwardly-extending lever upon movement of the same. about; its, pivot, said devicealsoefiective whereby a force moving said upwardly-extending lever through a considerable angular arc is trans- .mitted' to said line-space lever without :appreciable loss irrespective of the varying angular-relations of said-levers one to another.

5. In 1av typewriting machine having a earriage,; in combination, line-space lever on said carriage, a lever mounted on a substantiallyhorizontal pivot on the rear of said carriage for: engaging said line-space lever,

.and roller means arranged whereby said lastmamed lever upon movement about its pivot is made effective to operatively swing said line-space lever-With a minimum loss of power resulting from the changing angular rela- .tion of saidlevers and friction therebetween.

. Janette "-16. iIna typewriting, machine havinga carnage, 1n comb1nat1on,:aline+space lever on said carriage,an approximatelyupright lever mountedon therear of said carriage below said line-space lever for operating the latter,

anda conical roller mounted on said linevspace lever and having its smallend disposed towards the fulcrum of said line-space lever,

said upright lever ingnormal startingposition engaging said roller adjacent its large end.

7.. Acombined line-spacing and carriager'eturn device-for a-typewriting machine of the class 'described encased i-na sound-deaden- .i-ng case,-and having a platen-carriage and a line-space lever pivoted on said carriage and accessibleonly when-the casing is opened, said device includingia drumv in-said case at strap, and its otherend disposed near said line-space lever extension, said extension havingengagement w1th the upright lever.

8. A combined line-spacing and carriagereturn device for a type-writing machine encased ina sound-deadening case, and having a platen-carriage and a line-space lever pivoted on said carriage, said device including a drum in said case at the right of-said machine-and in the rear of the same, an operable member outside said case having a connect-ion with said drum for revolving the same, and means operably connecting said drum to said line-space lever including a strap wound on said drum, arearward extension on said line-space lever, an approximately upright lever pivoted intermediate itsends on said carriage, the lower end of said upright-lever fastened to said strap, and

its upper end engaging said line-s-pace lever extension, and a conical roller mounted on said extensionfor engagement by said upright lever, said roller arranged with respect to the path of said upright lever, whereby the latter engages against said rollerapproximately at right angles irrespective of its operative position.

9. A combined line-spacing and carriagereturn device for a typewriting machine of the class described, having a platen-carriage anda line-space-lever pivoted on said carriage for rightward operable movement, said device including a rearward extension on said line-space lever, an upwardlyextending lever pivoted, intermediate its'endson said carriage for. engaging said extension from the 

